It’s been some time since Mike Tyson and Jake Paul‘s fight started drawing a fair share of criticism. Primarily, it is directed at the age gap between the two belligerents. Jake Paul turned 27 on January 17. Mike Tyson is currently fifty-seven, but he will be 58 by the time the fight takes place on July 20 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Even if the matter is kept aside for a moment, other issues, such as competitive layoffs, might come across as valid concerns. Jake Paul debuted professionally in 2020. Since then, he has been maintaining an active presence in boxing. His last three fights happened in a span of seven months. ‘Iron’ Mike, on the other hand, retired nearly two decades ago. His participation in exhibition bouts has been far and few. His last fight occurred on November 28, 2020. Thus, across several corners, doubts and questions mar the otherwise intriguing bout. A former champion even appears weary of the matchup.

‘The Cobra’ Hisses: Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul

The first emotion Carl Froch felt upon hearing about the Tyson-Paul fight was that of disbelief. He said, “I stumbled across the news that Jake Paul is fighting the legend the icon Mike Tyson… I just thought this cannot be happening; you can’t be putting a mid 20 a guy in his mid 20s in against a guy that’s approaching 60 years old.”

Then he posited how, over the years, hard fighting resulted in physical wear and tear impacting the former heavyweight champion’s physique. Then, aside from his habit of smoking weed, medical problems such as sciatica have also troubled Tyson. So initially, when he heard about the fight, he thought it was just another round-the-corner exhibition bout. However, it finally dawned on him that the match was taking place in real life.

Given the place Mike Tyson holds in the sport and Jake Paul lacking any proper credentials as a professional boxer, the news of the fight repulsed him to the extent that he thought it could be even worse for boxing.

Carl Froch on Legacies at Stake

“I was thinking surely, not surely, this is like a bit of an exhibition or a bit of a gimmick or they’re having some kind of a a steady move around, but Jake Paul is actually officially taking on Iron Mike Tyson…he is he’s an icon in the professional boxing world, and Jake Paul’s not even a pro boxer, so when I heard this fight was happening, I was absolutely disgusted, and I think it’s so bad for boxing, right?” said ‘The Cobra.’

However, there are a few who approach the fight with a sense of business as usual. The last undisputed heavyweight champion, Lennox Lewis, even shared the clip from a mixed martial arts simulated match between Tyson and Paul. He mentioned the chances of the July 20 fight following the virtual battle’s example.

Carl Froch retired as a champion. Ten years ago, on May 31, 2014, he knocked out archrival George Groves in the eighth round of their rematch. Thus, he was able to retain his WBA (unified) and IBF super middleweight titles successfully for the second time. Perhaps just as he reminisces fondly about his time in boxing, ‘The Cobra’ likely wishes for a similar sentimentality surrounding ‘Iron’ Mike’s era.

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